Christian Living – Daniel Secomb – Bible Teacherhttp://www.danielsecomb.com
Bringing you fresh insights from God's Word.Wed, 10 Oct 2018 21:04:20 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.936770340Why Does God Seem To Hide Himself?http://www.danielsecomb.com/why-does-god-seem-to-hide-himself/
http://www.danielsecomb.com/why-does-god-seem-to-hide-himself/#commentsThu, 19 May 2016 10:01:00 +0000http://www.danielsecomb.com/?p=265If you have seen the brilliant documentary by Ben Stein “Expelled“, you would remember Ben’s interview with Richard Dawkins in which he candidly asked Dawkins what he would do if he met God after he died, to which Dawkins replied:

“Bertrand Russell had that point put to him and he said something like, ‘Sir, why did you take such pains to hide yourself?’”

It would have to be one of the most brought up topics by atheists. If God is real, why does he seemingly make it so difficult for non-believers to know that he is there? Yet, is this necessarily the case? It is certainly a human trait for us to worship things that we see. The history of mankind features thousands of idols made from wood, stone and gold, yet the God of the Bible is a God who is immaterial and invisible. In Isaiah 45:15, the prophet Isaiah declares that God is hidden;

Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel.

If God desires a relationship with mankind, why does he seem to avoid the very thing he desires by hiding himself? Surely, if he revealed himself to everybody, he could enjoy a relationship with everybody, right?

Here is the enigma about God and those who discover his reality. God is an extremely intelligent being. In fact, there is no limit to his wisdom and understanding. Yet, God is personable in the sense that he enjoys companionship. God is a trinity with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and their union is an eternal community of love. Consequently, 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” God could not be “love” if he wasn’t triune in nature. At a fixed time in the past, God brought the universe into existence out of nothing (ex-nihilo) as science has confirmed, created the earth and created man as the crowning point of his creative work. Initially, God and man enjoyed fellowship together until sin came into the world. Sin is the very thing that separates us from God and causes God and us to become distant. Isaiah 59:2 says,

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Consequently, sinful man, on his terms, cannot get into contact with God. Sinful man in his cynical pride and arrogance can try to search for God as much as he wants, but God will never be found by him. Eph 4:18 says, “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”

Only God sets the terms by which he reveals himself, and that is by faith. Heb 11:1,6 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. . . And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Considering that God made man in his image, one of the most distinguishing features of this is our “free-will”. We have the freedom to choose to love him and follow him or to reject him.

However, God has stacked the odds against himself even further by allowing Satan limited reign upon the earth and allowing him and his hordes to deceive the masses. 2 Cor 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” God has stacked the odds against himself, because his desire is to spend eternity with those who through insurmountable odds, doubts, trials and temptations persisted in living their lives in obedience and submission to Him. God could’ve created us like robots that automatically worship him, but no, God wanted us to have freewill with the ability and freedom to decide to either choose him or reject him, and this life is the life which determines that for the rest of eternity. Jesus says in Matt 24:13, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” and in Rev ch 2 and 3 Jesus says “To him who overcomes…” a total of seven times (Rev 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21) and each time follows with a different reward to Christians who overcome in this life.

There are generally two types of atheists; skeptics and cynics. The insurmountable evidence of God’s existence throughout creation is on full display for skeptics who are genuinely seeking truth with an open mind and a humble heart, however God pushes away arrogant cynics and causes them to stumble around in the stupor of their darkened understanding because of the cynical condition of their heart. 1 Cor 1:18-31 sums it up very well…

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

God can’t stand the proud and the arrogant, yet he loves the humble and the meek. Prov 3:34 says, “He opposes and mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble.” Jesus also mentions this in Luke 10:21, “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” This has been God’s purpose all along. To frustrate the arrogant cynical mockers of this world and to reveal the reality of himself to the humble, contrite, lowly and downtrodden of this world.

Atheists demand God to reveal himself and charge that it is unethical or even hypocritical for God to hide himself. But again, it is God who sets the terms that he reveals himself. He is not obligated to reveal himself to anyone who demands him to. The terms that he reveals himself is always through faith. God chooses not to reveal himself in an environment of unbelief, but rather, he reveals himself and demonstrates his power in an environment of faith. Faith is the circumstances in which the supernatural thrives. There is a very clear example of this in Mark 6:1-6a when Jesus went to visit his home town of Nazareth.

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.He was amazed at their lack of faith.

This is the case with the cultural divide between East and West. In the cynical West, the question is “Is there a God?” whereas in the polytheistic East, the question is “Which god is the true god?”. As a general observation, people in the East naturally understand the reality of the spiritual realm and have a well-established belief in the supernatural, whereas the West is very much entrenched in cynicism. My friend noticed this when he went on a short-term mission trip to the Philippines. He prayed for a number of sick people in an old military hospital and was astounded to the amount of miraculous healings he witnessed while he ministered. He said, it was extremely difficult for him to come back to Australia and was depressed by the unbelief and cynicism that prevails in our Western society. Another one of my friends also witnessed the same thing while he was ministering in Myanmar this year.

Yes, God does hide himself from the proud and arrogant, while at the same time provide us with incredible evidence all around us. You may have heard of the term “hidden in plain sight”. This is particularly true with those who have rejected the truth. The evidence of the reality of God is staring them in the face, yet they refuse to acknowledge it and do everything in their power to suppress it. Romans 1:18-20 says,

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

The truth is, there are extremely intelligent and not-so intelligent atheists and there are extremely intelligent and not-so intelligent Christians. The underlying factor here is not intellectual blindness, but rather spiritual blindness. Remember, 2 Cor 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Yet God doesn’t not intend and does not want anyone to stay in this blindness. This is why the gospel must be preached, because only the truth of the gospel can remove this spiritual blindness. Jesus said, “When you know the truth, the Truth will set you free.”

Some might say, “Well, there was a time in my life where I tried Christianity and I didn’t experience anything.” Atheists are incensed at the idea that God would “choose” some who reach out to him while “rejecting” others who also reach out to him. Why would God deliberately “hide” himself from those who genuinely want to give Christianity a go? This may seem like a paradox, but Jesus explains this paradox with the parable of the sower in Luke 8:4-15

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

His disciples asked him what this parable meant.He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“‘Though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Let’s make no mistake, there is a war over the souls of men, and that not everyone who initially believes the truth will endure to the end. It is inevitable that people will believe for a time and then fall away. But why would God allow that if he wants to be in a loving relationship with people? Yes, God does want to be in relationship with people, but only on the basis of faith. Remember, it is God who sets the terms.

Yes, the believer will undoubtably come across problems when reading the scriptures, however, the problems can be worked out through study and contextual examination. For every doubt, there is an answer, and through perseverance and diligence the answers can be found to all of the perceived problems. God is not hiding the answers to those who diligently seek it out. God says in Jeremiah 33:3 says;

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

And in Jeremiah 29:13;

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

And in Heb 11:6b;

…anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Sadly, many reject Christianity on a superficial level without genuinely investigating its claims and credentials. Many others have been deceived and led astray by believing lies from those who have committed their life to suppressing the truth. This is a clear picture of what Jesus described with “those along the path, who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts”

Jesus said in Matt 22:14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” God’s invitation to salvation has been made available to everybody, yet not everybody will accept the invitation.

So God is not exactly “hiding”. He has given every opportunity for those to believe and come to faith, but as I have explained, not everyone will take hold of the truth and endure to the end. Even though God has revealed himself through creation (general revelation) and the revelation of his word (special revelation), people will inadvertently come up with excuses, believe lies, succumb to doubts, suppress the truth, give in to persecution and depart the faith to pursue wealth, notoriety and pleasure. This has been the case with many examples of people falling away from the faith throughout the New Testament and throughout the history of the church. Only those who overcome, are the ones who enjoy fellowship with God for eternity. This life is the testing ground, the examination room, the dress rehearsal for the life to come.

One final note. Many have demanded that if God is real, why doesn’t he come down and reveal himself? Well, he has. His name is Jesus, and the Bible says that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15a). He was crucified on the cross for your sins. In fact, Jesus took the punishment for your sin, which would’ve resulted in your eternal separation from God. Remember, Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Our sin is what has separated us from God, and Jesus’ work on the cross has removed our sin and restored us into fellowship with him. However, we cannot enter into that relationship with God unless we come to him humbly in repentance and commit our lives to him through faith in Christ.

Jesus said in Matt 22:14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” God’s invitation to salvation has been made available to everybody, yet as I have explained above, not everybody will accept the invitation.

To the proud and arrogant, God has “hidden these things from the wise and learned” (Luke 10:21) and frustrated the “intelligence of the intelligent” (1 Cor 1:19), yet his hands are outstretched toward to all who would come to him in sincerity and humility. Only those with “a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (Luke 8:15) will enjoy fellowship with God for eternity. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “he [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

There are many arguments for the existence of God, but the most effective within Christian apologetics would have to be the Moral Argument for the existence of God. I find this argument to be very effective, because most people can identify with this argument more than any other, as it doesn’t have a scientific basis as other popular arguments do, such as the Kalam Cosmological or the argument from Fine Tuning. People make decisions based on morality every day, so for them the Moral Argument hits much closer to home.

My approach to the Moral Argument can by broken down into two premises and then a conclusion, which has been popularised by Christian philosopher William Lane Craig. The argument flows as follows:

Premise 1: If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.

By “objective moral values” I’m talking about moral values that are valid and binding, independent of human opinion. For example, to say that the holocaust was objectively evil, is to say that it was evil, even though the Nazi’s thought it was good. Even if the Nazi’s had won World War Two and succeeded in brainwashing or exterminating everyone who disagreed with them, the holocaust would still be considered as objectively evil.[2]

I believe it’s also important to explain the difference between what is meant by “values” and “duties”. Values have to do with whether something is good or bad (something’s worth), whereas duties have to do with whether something is right or wrong (moral obligation).

Before I would discuss with the non-believer the two key premises for the Moral Argument, I would first lay my case why God is considered the ultimate transcendent anchor point for all moral values.

God: The Ultimate Source of Moral Goodness

Plato argued that things have goodness insofar as they stand in some relation to the “Good”, which subsists in itself. With the advent of Christian theism, the Good became identified with God himself.[3]

Thomas Aquinas in his famous “Five Ways” argument for the existence of God, states in the fourth way (The Argument from Gradation) that there must be something which is in itself true, good, and noble, and that this brings into being our ideas of truth, goodness and nobility. The origin of these ideas, Aquinas suggests, is God, who is their original cause.[4] Aquinas says:

Now when many things possess some property in common, the one most fully possessing it causes it in the others: fire, as Aristotle says, the hottest of all things, causes all other things to be hot. Something therefore causes in all other things their being, their goodness, and whatever other perfection they have. And this is what we call God.[5]

It’s a powerful revelation when we understand that the source of all “good” is a person. It was only 3 weeks ago from writing this essay that prominent atheist blogger Leah Libresco stunned her compatriots by converting to Christianity as a result of being convinced by the Moral Argument for the existence of God. Leah says in her official last post for the Patheos Atheist Portal, “I believed that the Moral Law wasn’t just a platonic truth, abstract and distant. It turns out I actually believed it was some kind of Person, as well as Truth. And there was one religion that seemed like the most promising way to reach back to that living Truth.”[6]

It seems that Leah stumbled across the same revelation that C.S. Lewis spoke of: “It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law, and put yourself wrong with that Power—it is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk.”[7]

And so I would help the non-believer understand that God is the locus, the ultimate source, who is not only perfectly good, but whose nature is the standard of goodness and whose commands constitute our moral duties.[8] I would then engage the non-believer with the first premise.

Premise 1: If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.

The first premise presents us a hypothetical scenario of a world without God, and makes the assertion that if God does not and has not existed, then there are no such thing as objective moral values. I would deliberately paint a very negative and depressing picture of life without God. A world where good and evil are purely relative, where peoples wrongs can be interpreted as good, where justice is denied to the oppressed and genocide redefined as ‘population control’. I would explain that man’s interpretation of morality is just a product of socio-biological evolution and nothing more than a ‘herd morality’ that is associated with animals.[9] Indeed, the universally understood act of murder could easily be interpreted as killing in the same way that a lion would kill a zebra. A lion doesn’t murder a zebra, as murder has a moral connotation that is only understood with human beings. The same goes with rape. Take God out of the picture and rape can be reduced to the action of an animal forcibly copulating with a female to spread his progeny—which happens in the animal kingdom all the time. There is no moral dimension to these actions. They are neither prohibited nor obligatory.[10]

Richard Dawkins made the following comment in regard to the purpose of human beings: “There is at bottom no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pointless indifference. We are machines for propagating DNA. It is every living object’s sole reason for being.”[11] Considering that man is the result of uncaused accidental evolution on an infinitesimal speck of dust lost somewhere in a hostile and meaningless universe, man therefore is in no way shape or form obligated to follow any moral code. As William Lane Craig says to great effect:

The rapist who goes against the ‘herd morality’ is doing nothing more serious than acting unfashionably, like the man who belches loudly at the dinner table. If there is no moral lawgiver, then there is no objective moral law that we must obey.[12]

It is important for me to point out to the un-believer in this conversation that this is not about that we must believe in God in order to live upright lives, nor is it that one can believe in objective moral values without believing in God, but rather it is about the necessity of the existence of God for objective morality.[13]

Once the un-believer is aware of the dire scenario that I’ve described with the first premise, it’s time to move on to the facts of the reality of objective moral values and duties with the second premise.

Premise 2: Objective moral values and duties do exist.

The capacity by which we evaluate moral values and duties is by “moral experience” by referring in hindsight to situations in the past or where we place ourselves in hypothetical situations using our imagination.

Surprisingly, the second premise is widely accepted, even by the leading “New Atheists”. For instance, the late Christopher Hitchens said, “you don’t need God to tell you that murder is wrong; this information is available to all humans.”[14] Sam Harris, in his book The End of Faith says, “We do not need God or a Bible to tell us what’s right and what’s wrong. We can know objective moral truths without ‘the existence of a lawgiving God,’ and we can judge Hitler to be morally reprehensible ‘without reference to scripture.’”[15] Richard Dawkins in 2011 refused to debate Christian apologist William Lane Craig, because he said that he “is an apologist for genocide” by citing that Craig adheres and endorses God’s sanctioning of the destruction of the Canaanites in the Old Testament.[16] Yet, it is with great irony and hypocrisy that Dawkins previous debate opponents share the exact same belief and conviction in the Old Testament shared by Craig. Not only that, but in his written article, Dawkins ironically appeals to objective moral values in establishing that genocide is objectively wrong.

At the Nuremburg Trials in 1945-46, the Nazi war criminals were tried in accordance with the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal. Interestingly, the tribunal was based on civil law format,[17] in which its legal ideas and systems were ultimately derived from law codes heavily influenced by the Judeo-Christian framework of moral values such as the Justinian code, Germanic code, canon-law, as well as doctrinal strains such as natural law.[18] These laws in which provide the foundation for the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal and demonstrates the universal objectivity of moral values and duties as reflected from the following excerpts taken from The Law of the Nuremburg Trial:

“All those sentenced to hang were found guilty of crimes against humanity…”[19] and “…to initiate a war of aggression is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”[20] and “The Tribunal had no doubt that the acts in pursuance of policies of “genocide” and clearing land by extermination of its population . . . constituted ‘war crimes’.”[21]

Interestingly, the defendants were represented by “able German lawyers”[22] who contested the validity of the Charter if it were construed in a way to transgress fundamental principles of justice.[23] They also argued that the defendants were simply following superior orders. Yet, the Tribunal stated that they could not shelter themselves behind the plea of superior orders if “moral choice was in fact possible.”[24]

I would then point the un-believer to an example from popular culture. Movie producers would be set for certain financial failure at the box office if the screenplay for their movies didn’t feature the “good guys” winning in the end and triumphing over the “bad guys”. Why? Because as human beings created in the image of God we have a natural intrinsic moral understanding that evil must be overcome by good. Our moral views are, at the least, embedded in our emotions. We find it repulsive to suppose a different moral order of things, and, finding it repulsive, cannot go through with supposing it.[25]

I would then question the un-believer to ask questions based on his own intuitive moral experience whether he thought the torture of a small child wasn’t morally repugnant. I would also ask him the same question in regard to the atrocities of genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda and Sudan. If he answers that he agrees that my examples are objectively morally wrong, I would ask him—why? Hopefully, he will arrive at a place where he understands that moral values exist universally and independently of his own opinions.

I would then point the un-believer to the Bible and show him that Paul explains the objective moral values that we all share in the second chapter of Romans:

“(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)” (Rom 2:14-15)

Paul explains that moral laws are written upon our hearts and that our consciences bear witness to them. Once again, this is to do with the fact that we are created in the image of God. We are distinct from the animals in the fact that human beings are moral agents with moral comprehension and responsibility.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have established with the non-believer the case that objective moral values and duties are grounded in God himself and that there is no other conceivable higher standard of goodness than he himself.

I have pointed out with the first premise that if God does not exist, then all moral values are relative and therefore illusory. Moral values are simply the product of socio-biological evolution and can therefore be described as nothing more than a ‘herd morality’. Offenders are not morally accountable, but rather better described as acting against the interests of the herd, or to put it another way—acting ‘unfashionably’.

Finally, I discuss with him that these moral truths have to be objective, independent of our choices, and going deeper than what we happen to desire.[26] Hopefully, this argument would then help the un-believer to see the truth presented to him, that truth is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, and then for him to make an informed decision to follow Christ as a result. The objective in the whole conversation with the un-believer is never to “win the argument”, but rather to help the un-believer to believe so that he may be won over to Christ. As apologist Norman Geisler says, “The object of apologetics is not to prove we are right, but to remove the roadblocks to faith in others.”

One of the great philosophical questions. Why does God allow bad things to happen to us and worse… evil and suffering to exist in the world? Mankind has struggled over this complex issue for centuries, because if God is truly loving as Christians make out that he is, then we have an inconsistency between the God of the Bible and real-life circumstances.

However, the Bible has real answers for these tough questions and it is my hope that people reading this blog will begin to gain insight into a Biblical understanding of God’s nature and character and will begin a journey in experiencing God’s overwhelming grace in the midst of human suffering and personal tragedy.

The first reason is simply so we can know the difference between good and bad. Between happiness and sadness. Between experiencing enjoyment and experiencing suffering. If there was no such thing as bad experiences, then how would we know that we were having a good experience? I worked as a concrete labourer for ten months and then got a job as a desktop publisher. I remember my first day on the job as a desktop publisher and it was one of the best experiences in my life. We love warm sunny days because we have experienced cold and windy days.

The other reason is that you need to understand that we live in a fallen world because of sin. Did you know that there is enough food to feed the world one and a half times over? The world produces 17% more food per person today than 30 years ago. But still, close to a billion people go to sleep hungry every night. God in His compassion has provided more than enough food on the earth, so why then is there famine in world? Why is there children starving to death in third world countries? Because of mans greed, selfishness, apathy and ignorance. There is starvation in many parts of the world because of purely human causes. Let me explain. Firstly, because of human apathy. We have millionaires and billionaires who spend money on ridiculous things and purposes and yet, aid agencies and charities earnestly looking for financial support to go in and provide food for the hungry miss out on their contributions. Secondly, many aid agencies cannot reach a lot of areas affected by famine, either because of lack of resources or security concerns because of violence in volatile regions. Thirdly, because the countries beset by famines have governments guilty of gross economic irresponsibility. Many of these governments are blinded by greed and rife with corruption. Unfortunately, it’s the poor and defenceless that bear the consequences of their governments financial mismanagement.

So we need to understand that it is not God’s fault in regard to human suffering, it is our fault because of sin entering the world which began with Adam. For those Christians who believe in millions of years of evolutionary development, then death, disease and suffering existed BEFORE sin, so why would God call that ‘very good’? No! God is not the cause of death and suffering. Why? Because death, disease and suffering came AFTER sin–our sin in Adam’s decision to disobey God. Yet God stepped into history at just the right time in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sin (which was death) and saved us from what we did to ourselves and to this world. We committed high treason against the God of creation and therefore –we don’t even deserve to exist. What a merciful, gracious God we have who, despite our rebellion, had planned for a way of salvation for us.

What about God’s sovereignty in regard to our lives? Is he really in control of our lives or is everything down to random chance? King Solomon shares some interesting wisdom:

“I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11

The Bible says that “time and chance” happens to us all. It’s interesting that in the book of Deuteronomy there are cities which God had appointed as cities for people to run to if they accidentally killed someone:

“This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his axe to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought.” – Deuteronomy 19:4-6

So why shouldn’t God protect the man from the axe hitting him and killing him? Because God allows time and chance happen to us all. Can God intervene? Yes, he can, but He is sovereign to choose not to. However, in saying that, prayer on the other hand can bring about the power of God to intervene and the Bible (and the lives of many Christians) is full of many examples of Him coming to the aid of people as a result of prayer. Yet, sometimes people die even with people praying for their recovery. Why does God allow that to happen? What about parents who have lost children? Even Christian parents? There are many Christian parents who unfortunately have lost kids as a result of tragic accidents. Where is God then? In the immediate aftermath of a tragedy, in the majority of cases we don’t understand why God would allow such a traumatic thing to happen. But often time reveals the good that can come out of tragic circumstances. It is then that we begin to understand that God sees the big picture. We see way too close at our circumstances, but God sees how everything comes together and ultimately, he knows what is best for us and allows tragic circumstances to achieve a far greater purpose in our lives.

What about evil? What about the perpetrators of rape and murder? Why does God allow them to outwork their evil violent or perverted fantasies on the innocent? To understand this, we need to understand the concept of free will. God has given every single one of us the ability (or free will) to choose to do good or evil. God would not prevent people from committing evil, because God has given them the free will to choose to do evil as well as good. To take away someones choice to commit evil has effectively taken away their free will and thus they become like robots, only performing tasks that are acceptable to the creator. Remember also, that God has given us the free will to choose to accept Him or to reject Him. Why does God do that? Because God knows that he will be spending the rest of eternity with people who out of their free will chose to accept him and love him.

Then there’s the angle that God allows suffering to outwork his purpose in us. Interesting (and comforting) to see so many examples of this in the Bible. Probably the most outstanding example is of Joseph of which his story is found in Genesis ch 37 to 50. Most people not familiar with the Bible will remember Joseph’s character from the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat broadway show. Joseph fell out of favour with his brothers by sharing his dreams describing his brothers bowing down and paying homage to him. Instead of killing him, they sold him into slavery where he served under Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. Joseph gained great favour under Potiphar, yet Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him and as a result Joseph fled, but in the process left his cloak in her hands. Potiphar’s wife screamed “rape” and Joseph found himself in prison where he was to stay for a total of 13 years. Joseph would be forgiven to say “Where is the God of my ancestors?”, yet surprisingly to most of us– he never got bitter through his suffering. The time came when Pharaoh had a series of vivid dreams in which he searched all over the land for someone to interpret his dreams, but found none. To cut to the chase, Joseph was able to interpret his dreams and revealed that there was a devastating famine about to hit the land for 7 years. Impressed by Joseph’s ability to interpret the dream, Pharaoh made him ruler over all of Egypt, second only to himself in authority. In the midst of the famine, Joseph’s brothers heard there was food in Egypt and came down from Canaan to buy grain. An interesting verse pops up when Joseph sees his brothers in the line of buyers for grain. In Gen 42:9, it says, “Then Joseph remembered his dreams”. Such an incredible moment of realisation of destiny! Joseph then would’ve understood the divine hand of God working behind the scenes in his life, which brought him into the position where God wanted him to be. Joseph then says something remarkable to his brothers in Gen 50:19-20 “But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.'” Many of us can find ourselves in painful situations where we can be deceived into thinking that God is aloof to our suffering or that God has brought the suffering upon us because he is punishing us for something or because he just don’t plain like us. Little do we know, is that God is priming us and positioning us for our destiny. The time will come when people will thank you for helping them, because you allowed God to shape you in the hard times of your life to position you to impact the lives of others.

The most powerful thing for us to understand about suffering, is that God did not even spare his own Son from it. Just imagine what it would’ve been like for Jesus knowing his whole life, that he was born to die. Not only that, but Jesus was to die by one of the most cruelest and barbaric ways of execution ever devised by man. Jesus’ suffering did not begin while he was on the cross, but rather the night before when Jesus had the weight of the world on his shoulders in the Garden of Gethsemane. So great was the stress that tiny blood vessels were rupturing in his sweat glands and emitting as great red drops that fell to the ground (see Luke 22:44). This symptom of severe stress is called hematohidrosis.

Next thing that we read is that Jesus is brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin and physically assaulted by the members. Yet he did not open his mouth.

Having previously been beaten by the Jewish religious leaders, it was now the Romans’ turn. The beatings administered by Roman soldiers are well known to be very bloody, leaving lacerations all over the body. Romans designed their whips to cut the flesh from their victim’s bodies. These beatings were designed to be painful to the extreme. It would also cause a fluid build up around his lungs. In addition, his beard was pulled out and a crown of thorns was beaten into his scalp which was capable of severely irritating major nerves in his head, causing increasing and excruciating pain. In Christ’s severely stressed condition, these beatings were easily enough to kill him. His body was horribly bruised, cut and bleeding. Having had no nourishment for many hours, and having lost fluids through profuse sweating and much bleeding, Jesus would have been severely dehydrated. This brutal torture would certainly be sending him into “shock,” yet Jesus managed to hold himself together without going into it.

If all that wasn’t enough, Jesus now had to face the cross. The cross was a favoured method of execution by the Romans. In fact, the Romans called it the “Ultimum Judicium” which meant the “Ultimate Judgement”. Jesus was forced to carry the the wooden beam of the cross on which he would die from the Antonio Fortress (Roman headquarters) to the designated place for execution, just outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Imagine the effect of carrying a heavy weight if you were in that condition? At the place of execution, the Romans fixed the wooden beam he was carrying to the stripped him naked and nailed him The pain and damage caused by crucifixion were designed to be so excruciatingly intense that one would continually long for death, but could linger for days with no relief. According to medical professionals, the piercing of the median nerve of the hands with a nail can cause pain so incredible that even morphine wouldn’t bring relief, he would’ve experienced severe, excruciating, burning pain, like lightning bolts traversing the arm into the spinal cord. Rupturing the foot’s plantar nerve with a nail would have a similarly horrible effect. Furthermore, the position of the body on a cross is designed to make it extremely difficult to breathe. One particular medical professional described the intended, torturous effect: “For indeed a death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of horrible and ghastly—dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds—all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the suffer the relief of unconsciousness.”

At the ninth hour (the time at which a sacrificial lamb was killed everyday in the Jewish temple), the whole land came under darkness and Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” At that moment, the unthinkable happens. The eternal communal bond of love between the Father and Son was broken. God the Father turns his back on his one and only Son. For the first time in all eternity that Jesus was on his own and completely isolated from his Father. A lot is said about the physical pain that Jesus endured, but not much is mentioned about the emotional agony that Jesus experienced when His loving Father turned his back on him. Yet Jesus took all the rejection that was intended for us, so that we could find acceptance from the Father.

Jesus then said, “It is finished.” at the same moment when the temple’s priestly ram’s horn was blown that day, announcing that the priests had completed the sacrifice of the lamb for the sins of Israel. Also at that moment, the great, thick curtain that closed the Holy of Holies room from view, ripped open from top to bottom. See Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46.

A British medical professor believed that Jesus did not die from exhaustion, the beatings or the 3 hours of crucifixion, but that he died from agony of mind producing a rupture of the heart. His evidence comes from what happened when the Roman soldier pierced Christ’s left side. The spear released a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:34). Not only does this prove that Jesus was already dead when pierced, but that it is also evidence of cardiac rupture of an over-flow of serum in the pericardium chamber of the heart. In other words, Jesus died of a broken heart.

There is no question that it was painful beyond words. Biblically, it is clear that Jesus chose and willed His moment of death. That moment was induced not by pain, emotional stress, heart attack, or any other, but by His free will. Though fully human, He is also fully divine. As God, He could not die from external sources, but only of His own volition and will.

Why did Jesus have to suffer? Hear the words of Isaiah the prophet, which he prophesied 2750 years ago (750 years before Jesus’ birth);

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

At the cross we see a perfect display of God’s anger, a perfect display of God’s justice, and a perfect display of God’s love. God’s anger was poured out, His justice was met and satisfied and his love was demonstrated to all mankind.

So what kept Jesus focused throughout the ordeal? We get a bit of an insight into this from this verse:

“who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Heb 12:2b

The question is not what was that joy set before him, but rather who was that joy set before him. Why? Because YOU are that joy! Despite the incalculable amount of pain and suffering that Jesus went through, it was all worth it, because it mean’t that you now have a way to eternal salvation. So no matter what you are suffering or what your loved one is suffering, be assured that there is a higher purpose being worked out in your life. Also, be aware that many others throughout the world are undergoing similar suffering to what you are going through. The Apostle Peter said the following;

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Peter 5:6-11

Would you like to accept the free gift of salvation that was paid for by Jesus on your behalf? You can by saying a simple prayer (click here). Saying the prayer will not ensure that what you’re suffering will instantly go away, but rather it means that you begin to walk through life in relationship with your creator.